


on the house

by infinituity



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Space, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-16 10:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8098156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinituity/pseuds/infinituity
Summary: Working on a space station sounded a whole lot more interesting that it really was.Sure, he got to meet people of all sorts of species running all over the galaxy, but that was the thing. None of them stuck around; the Pittsburgh was just a, pardon the pun, pit stop. It was a glorified gas station in the middle of nowhere, and honestly Sid didn't even want to hear people's life stories while he made them a coffee.Which is probably why he didn't realize at first how monumental it was, meeting Trevor.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dragons_and_angels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/gifts).



Working on a space station sounded a whole lot more interesting that it really was.

Sure, he got to meet people of all sorts of species running all over the galaxy, but that was the thing. None of them stuck around; the Pittsburgh was just a, pardon the pun, pit stop. It was a glorified gas station in the middle of nowhere, and honestly Sid didn't even _want_ to hear people's life stories while he made them a coffee.

Which is probably why he didn't realize at first how monumental it was, meeting Trevor.

It was an ordinary day, although it was pretty slow, a bit after the morning rush ended. Plus, they were in a dead zone of holidays, so no one was in a big hurry to travel anywhere. Sid was a little distracted, trying to think of something interesting to say to Taylor when he called her that weekend. She was still only halfway through her pilot training and was always itching to hear cool things about life in space.

"Hey, um," someone said, and Sid looked up to see an unfamiliar human in an engineering uniform approaching the counter. He seemed lost.

"Hi!" Sid said, plastering on his customer service smile. "What can I get you?"

"Oh, no, I'm --" the new engineer said, looking flustered. His nametag read "DALEY." "I got a call from the post office, but. I don't know where that is?"

"Oh, of course." Sid took a moment to orient himself, and then rattled off the directions to get to the post office from the cafe.

To Daley's credit, he listened intently and didn't ask Sidney to slow down or repeat himself. Instead, he nodded where he ought to, and gave a polite, "Thank you," when he got it all down.

"Wait," Sid said, when he turned to leave, though. While the guy seemed to understand the directions, he still had that lost quality, like no one had made him feel welcome just yet, and that wouldn't do. 

So Sid all but shoved a cup of coffee in his puzzled face.

"On the house," Sid added as Daley took the offered cup.

"Oh!" The grin didn't so much spread over Daley's face as it simply appeared, bright and pleased and blinding.

Sid saw the sun rise and set nearly twenty times a day, and he had never seen anything as striking as this smile.

"I'm Sid! Sidney," he blurted, and he could definitely feel the tips of his ears turning red at that.

Daley's grin didn't dim, but it did soften in a way that made Sid's insides melt a little. "Trevor," he said in response. "My friends call me Dales. Thanks for the help, and the coffee." He raised the cup in salute as he headed off.

"I'll see you around!" Sid called after him, and couldn't bring himself to feel embarrassed.

("Why you face so dumb?" Geno asked later, when he came by for his usual sugary monstrosity.

Sid wanted to be indignant, but it was tough with the grin that was permanently splitting his face. So instead he cheerfully said, "I'm in love," in reply.

Geno just laughed at him.)

***

Dales came by a lot after that, and whenever he wasn't busy and things were going slowly at the cafe, he and Sid got to talking.

After a few weeks of this, during a rare occasion when both Sid and Dales had a break at the same time (Flower was manning the counter so Sid didn't have to keep one eye on the door on lookout for real customers), the conversation somehow got to childhood vacations.

"So we're on this road in the middle of nowhere on Vega VII," Dales was saying, and if Sid was watching him with his chin in one hand, with his elbow propped up on the table, well. Sue him. "And we finally get to a rest stop, to get some food. But it's so late that the only restaurant still open is run by this elderly Lelari lady --"

"In the middle of the desert?" Sid interrupted, incredulous. 

"Yeah!" Dales agreed, eyes lit with enthusiasm for his story. "That was honestly the best meal I've ever had."

"Oh, have you been to the Lelari place on Level 3 yet?" Sid asked. "They have to use local cricket flour instead of the real stuff, but you can hardly tell the difference."

"Yeah, I haven't had the chance yet," Dales said, and then frowned. "It doesn't seem like the kind of place to go alone to."

"I could take you," Sid said, before he had the chance to second guess himself.

Dales stopped, and smiled. "Like a date?"

"Exactly like a date," Sid confirmed, and smiled back.

***

A date.

Sid hadn't been on a date in forever, but for some reason he wasn't too nervous. Jittery, of course, but that was more from excitement than from anything else. After all, it was only Dales. Nothing to be afraid of.

He took his time getting ready, though, checking and rechecking himself in the mirror before he left.

Perfect.

Dinner went well; the food was good and conversation was easy. It really wasn't hard to talk to Trevor, and now he didn't feel bad when he got caught staring. Trevor would just smile back, and then they would have to talk a minute or so to just grin at each other.

If Flower were there, he would have said it was gross.

After dinner, because Trevor still hadn't had the chance to explore the station beyond its mechanical components, Sid showed him around a bit, pointing out neat stores owned by interesting people. It was fun.

Unfortunately, the night had to end eventually, but on the bright side, sometimes the end of the date is the best part.

"So," Sid asked, after pressing Trevor up against his front door, "would you want to do this again sometime?"

"Yes," Trevor agreed, grinning. "Definitely."

***

A couple days later when Trevor came in, he pulled up short, looked around at everyone in the cafe, and said, "Why the hell is it so hot in here?"

"Solar flares," came the chorus from both Sid and Flower, as well as a couple of customers.

"Uh," Trevor frowned. "What?"

Sid shrugged. "It gets awful in here whenever we get solar flares. It's been like this forever."

Trevor made a face. "But the rest of the station is fine."

Sid could only shrug again, but Flower offered, "Scuds said there was nothing he could do about it."

Trevor looked thoughtful while Sid made his coffee, and when he finally received it, he seemed to have made a decision. "I'm gonna fix this," he said.

"Good luck," Sid said with a smile, as Trevor ran off.

"God speed," Flower said, with a lot more sarcasm.

Nothing, predictably, happened for a couple of hours. Sid kept standing there, fanning himself with anything he found in his hands, and customers kept mostly rushing out of there as soon as they got their drinks. No one blamed them.

By the time Sid was getting off, though, he paused halfway through taking off his apron to say, "Did. Did the solar flares stop already?" 

Everyone stopped, and felt as the heat begin to dissipate. 

After a moment, Beau (who had been "working" on a paper for class all day) quickly tapped something into his computer and said, "Nope. Not until tomorrow afternoon."

Which, of course, meant only one thing.

"You did it!" Sid said, beaming, when Trevor walked into the cafe. 

"Yes, I -- whoa!" Trevor cut off when Sid wrapped his arms around him in an enormous hug.

"You're great," Sid told him, serious as he could.

"I try."

"Can I get in on that?" Flower interrupted, drawing a glare from Sid.

"Get your own,"Sid snapped, squeezing Trevor a little tighter.

"Doesn't he already have his own?" Trevor asked.

"Yes, and she is twice as beautiful as both of you put together," Flower said, snottily.

Sid decided to ignore him, graciously. "Hey, you want to get out of here?" he asked Trevor instead.

"Definitely."


End file.
